Burkina Faso

2022

Founded in 1973, Acting for Life is a French international solidarity organization that promotes economic and social development of vulnerable populations. For almost 50 years, the association has been fighting poverty and enabling children, women, and men to live with dignity, thanks to the help of over 50 local partners in West Africa and Latin America.

In the region of Hauts Bassins in Burkina Faso, 30% of children are suffering from malnutrition. After hard years due to conflicts and the Covid-19 crisis, the impact of the war in Ukraine is increasingly undermining the food security of thousands of people. The main causes are more difficult supply and rising prices.

Acting for Life has been operating in Burkina Faso since 2015 and has enabled to focus on the transformation of food systems to sustainable and resilient models. Since 2021, Acting for Life has set up the TERSAA program (Transition of agricultural and food system in local areas) in 5 countries (Burkina Faso but also Colombia, Peru, Togo, and Benin) alongside 8 local partners and more than 7,400 producers and processors from family farming. The aim of the TERSAA program is to promote sustainable food production and ensure that consumers can access quality, locally produced food.

The Foundation’s help in 2022 enable to support and train producers from 12 cooperatives in Burkina Faso, to improve agricultural yields and distribution outlets, in order to ensure and improve supplies for 30 school canteens in the Hauts Bassins region.

What are the expected results of the project?

• Distribution of daily meals to schoolchildren in the 30 schools identified by Acting For Life (through the creation of food storage warehouses, drying areas, etc.),

• Improving the quality and quantity of locally produced meals distributed to these schools,
• Training producers in the marketing, promotion and distribution of their products, to facilitate a better link between family farming and local markets and thus contribute to job creation,
• Ensure safety of the equipment for transporting and distributing cultivated produce,
• Raising awareness among all stakeholders, including schoolchildren, of the right to food for all,
• Capitalize on the actions implemented by Acting for Life in the 5 countries and their results, with the help of a research center, to optimize practices in future years.

A total of 2,400 primary school pupils will benefit from a daily meal at school. For more information on the TERSAA program, click here.